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The paper reflects on a study which explored the role of spirituality in the lives of women during the first year after being diagnosed with breast cancer. The study utilised a qualitative method (hermeneutic phenomenology) designed to provide rich and thick understanding of women's experiences of breast cancer and to explore possible ways in which spirituality may, or may not, be beneficial in enabling coping and enhancing quality of life. The paper draws on the thinking of David Hay and Viktor Frankl to develop a model of spirituality that includes, but is not defined by, religion and that has the possibility to facilitate effective empirical enquiry. It outlines a threefold movement - inwards, outwards and upwards - that emerged from in-depth interviews with women who have breast cancer. This framework captures something of the spiritual movement that women went through on their cancer journeys and offers some pointers and possibilities for better and more person-centred caring approaches that include recognition of the spiritual dimension of women's experiences for the management of those with breast cancer.

Spatial and temporal scales of occurrence of flash floods, combined with the space and time scales of conventional measurement networks of rain and discharge, make these events particularly difficult to observe. The effective documentation of flash floods requires post-flood survey strategies encompassing accurate radar rainfall estimation, field observations of the geomorphic processes associated with the flood, indirect reconstruction of peak discharges and interviews of eyewitnesses. This paper describes the methods applied and the results achieved in the survey of a flash flood that occurred on 18th September 2007 in the Selška Sora watershed (Western Slovenia). Hydrometeorological analyses of the storm are based on radar reflectivity observations. The documentation of the flash flood reveals high peak flood discharges and a complex flood response. Peak discharges were estimated at 22 cross sections, with drainage areas ranging from 0·2 to 147 km 2 . Among the lessons learned from the field study of the Selška Sora flash flood, there are three key conclusions that can inform similar studies. Firstly, geomorphological surveys are an important prerequisite for flood discharge reconstruction in mountainous watersheds affected by debris flow and intense sediment transport. Secondly, the accounts of eyewitnesses of the flood provide a unique contribution to event reconstruction. Finally, it is necessary to have quality controlled weather radar data, which may permit coupling field observations with rainfall-runoff modelling.

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